Political prisoners write letter to UN Special Rapporteur on Iran

Authorities in Gohardasht Prison of Karaj, west of Tehran, in Iran have resorted to inhumane measures in searching the prisoners and their families during their weekly meetings. These actions were so humiliating they cannot be described as normal procedures. Each week the prisoners, their wives and daughters become extremely angry and file protests in this regard.

Regarding our families and loved ones, the prison guards direct each woman into a room for a full inspection. Inside two woman come for the inspection and force our family members to take off their clothes until they are half naked. They touch all their body parts in a repulsive way to prevent anything illegal being brought into the prison.

Our family members and loved ones never sought to inform the media about this issue or their husbands to know, because in our culture it is very embarrassing for anyone to say they have been sexually abused. We are the only individuals who are informed about such horrific treatment of our wives, sisters, daughters and other loved ones.

The prison guards carry out the same humiliating sexual abuse during the inspections that the prisoners go through. A number of the inmates have demanded the prison management decrease these harsh measures, only to fall on deaf ears.

This extremely insulting behavior and their emphasis to continue these cruel practices impelled us to write to Her Excellency hoping your dialogue may have an influence on the Iranian regime’s behaviors.

The RAND National Defense Research Institute published in July 2009 the report The Mujahedin-e Khalq: A Policy Conundrum for the Multi-National Force-Iraq, Task Force 134 (Detainee Operations). The report focuses on the circumstances surrounding the detention of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MeK) at Camp Ashraf and “whether MeK members were taken into custody…